May 2021 - Vinyl Spins Challenge Thread

Day 6 - Sing A Sad Song

John Prine - John Prine
Prine’s debut has a few heart tuggers - Sam Stone’s tale of the veteran who has fallen to addiction, the general wistfulness and loss of Prine himself but the song that gets me every time is Hello In There. It is great because it made me think of my grandparents when I first heard it, currently it reminds me of my parents cooped up away from COVID, one day it’ll reflect my own life. A universally sad idea that we will all get old and feel lonely one day.

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Day 6: Sing A Sad Song

Bat for Lashes - The Bride

It doesn't get much sadder than a concept album following the grieving process of a bride whose soon-to-be husband dies in a car crash on their wedding day.

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Day 6: Sing A Sad Song

Bowerbirds - becalmyounglovers

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Here’s an opportunity to talk about my favorite record at the moment. I’ve really loved everything this band put out in the past but it had been almost nine years since their last record. Since that time, two of its members had a child and then later ended their romantic relationship and she departed from the band. This album that came out last week is essentially a breakup album and although I miss her contribution to the music, it’s still very gorgeous and a lot of the instrumentation is still there.

Two highlights for me:




 
imtheocean said:
Day 6: Sing A Sad Song - Sad songs are always the most beautiful. Pick an album that contains a song that makes you feel all the feelings.

Going to get a bit personal with this one. My dad passed away just over a month ago, rather suddenly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I was fortunate enough to had gotten my first covid shot, and was able to fly out and spend some time with him before he passed. He was an aerospace engineer by trade, but a lover of all things transportation, including trains. He had a great train model train layout in his basement.

One of the things I did was put together a playlist for him to listen to while we sat with him. City of New Orleans was the first song he put on it - it has Van Morrison, Sarah Vaughn, Gordon Lightfoot, Wilson Pickett, Joni Mitchell, and a bunch more too.

After he passed, we were helping my mom clean stuff out, and were cleaning out his car. Among the other tapes in his car, City of New Orleans was in the tape deck. Couldn't bring myself to take it out, so it's there still - but I did order a copy of it to have for myself. I can picture him driving around with this album playing in the background. Picture includes one of the trains from his train set that I brought home with me.

So, as the days prompt says, I'm going to listen to this, and feel all the feelings...

"The conductor sings his songs again
The passengers will please refrain
This train got the disappearing railroad blues

Good night, America, how are you?
Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done"

Willie Nelson ~ City of New Orleans

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Thank you for sharing this. You write beautifully. I'm so sorry for your loss.
 
Day 7: Fri-Yay

My collection is more of a "in the basement alone listening to records" kind of collection...not many "party" records, but I can usually find something.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five ‎– Greatest Messages
Sugar Hill Records ‎– SH-9121, 1984

Cut by Phil Austin at Trutone
Pressed at MCA, Pinckneyville

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